Up till now, all hockey stick shafts, either of solid or hollow construction, have been manufactured in a similar standard rectangular configuration. This standard rectangular configuration has been the standard shape, which is preferred by a majority of hockey players. These actual designs of rectangularity have various radiuses placed at the intersecting planes (horizontal and vertical), and some of them include a cross sectional configuration of concaved/sided walls.
Composite hockey stick shafts, depending on their method and materials of construction, exhibit superior characteristics to hockey stick shafts of wood with respect to tensional resistance, bending moment resistance and shear resistance. However, composite hockey stick shafts have an inherent relative flexibility when submitted to direct impact at the blade, on particular under slap shot condition. A hollow rectangular beam structure, such as a hockey stick shaft, will, under a sudden cantilever type of loading (slap shot), exhibit a non-negligible deflection at mid span between the hockey player's hands localization. Such bending moment forces are transmitted inside the thin wall composite fiber-resin matrix construction and generate compression tension and shear stresses in the fiber-resin laminate.
The resulting level or amplitude of deflection between the player's hands (known as the buckling phenomenon) will be directly related to the area moment of inertia (dependent on the wall thickness) and the flexural elastic modulus of the fiber-resin laminate. Higher are the wall thickness and the laminate elastic modulus, higher is the overall stiffness and lower is the buckling phenomenon between the player's hands, but higher wall thickness involves higher weight of the shaft.
In some cases, due to the player's personal interest in added rigidity, higher bending resistance or a judicious combination of “stiffness—flex” in that particular zone will normally generate a quicker energy transfer allowing the player to deliver more dynamic and accurate puck releases.
Players who choose to play with composite hockey sticks continually seek out sticks having adapted rigidity and low weight. Experience has shown that conventional laminate constructions such as carbon, Kevlar and epoxy are close to attain a limit to maximize shot velocity and control, and increase durability and strength.